Fired Naples battalion chief seeks reinstatement

A former battalion chief is fighting to be reinstated to the Naples fire department, saying he was wrongly fired after leaving an anonymous letter in front of the police chief's door.

In the letter, former Battalion Chief Donald DeTeso claims to have overheard two police officers possibly cheating on a promotional exam. He later said he was in a bathroom stall when he overheard the conversation.

But officials from the Naples Police and Emergency Services Department say DeTeso withheld important information during an investigation and failed to relay information through the proper chain of command. More importantly, they contend, he lied about the alleged cheating, and that they have proof the two officers he accused weren't even in the station at the time.

"There is no evidence that they were involved in any cheating or any conspiracy whatsoever," said Jon Fishbane, an attorney representing the city.

On Nov. 19, DeTeso filed a lawsuit against the City of Naples in Collier Circuit Court seeking reinstatement to the department.

When reached at his Golden Gate Estates home, DeTeso declined to comment for this story. His attorney, Bradley Rothman, also declined to comment, saying only that he and DeTeso stand by their allegations.

According to Collier County court records, on Sept. 25 department officials found an envelope in front of Chief Victor Morales' door containing an anonymous letter asserting that Sgt. Neal Schaefer discussed questions about an upcoming promotional exam with then-Officer Bob Young.

"It has come to my attention that Sergeant Schaefer has given Officer Bobby Young the questions to the Sergeants boards. This was overheard in the locker room this is not fair to the other officers applying for the position or the integrity of being a police officer to cheat during a promotion," read the letter, which was signed by "a concerned officer."

Morales called for an immediate investigation to find out who wrote the letter, and later that day the department's internal affairs investigators, Tom Weschler and James Hendry, called DeTeso to their office, according to the lawsuit.

Weschler and Hendry demanded to know if DeTeso had ever seen the envelope and if he had authored the letter, the lawsuit states. DeTeso initially denied writing the letter, court records indicate.

The investigators then showed DeTeso a surveillance video showing him in front of Morales' door with an envelope in his pocket. After the seven-minute interview, DeTeso, a nine-year veteran of the force, was suspended with pay, the lawsuit states.

In the lawsuit, Rothman claims the interview with Weschler and Hendry was an interrogation that violated the Firefighter's Bill of Rights. The Firefighter's Bill of Rights states that no firefighter shall be subjected to interrogation without first receiving written notice of sufficient detail of the nature of the investigation.

Fishbane disagreed.

In a letter to Rothman, he said the interview with Weschler and Hendry was an "informal inquiry" to determine if a formal investigation was appropriate.

"Every effort was made to begin a process in which the facts were accumulated before any charge was leveled against him," Fishbane said.

The day after the interview with Weschler and Hendry, DeTeso was informed that he was the subject of a formal investigation. In subsequent interviews DeTeso admitted that he had, in fact, written the letter, claiming that he did not understand the difference between police and fire procedures, and that he didn't want to get involved in police matters.

In a letter to Morales, DeTeso wrote that he also was afraid of retaliation for "reporting cheating."

"I thought I was doing the right thing by reporting what I believed to have been cheating to the Chief of Police," DeTeso wrote. "I am hopeful that the decision will be made to return me to active duty status."

But an internal investigation into DeTeso's claims showed that the alleged cheating couldn't have occurred at the time and place he said.

On Oct. 15, DeTeso testified as a witness in a formal investigation against Schaefer and Young. He said that around 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 24 he was in a bathroom stall in the department's locker room where he overheard Schaefer discussing questions from an upcoming promotional exam with whom he believed to be Young, according to court documents.

However, investigators learned that Young was in an evidence locker from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. that day and was then dispatched to a call. Schaefer was off duty at 3:45 p.m. that day and was not even in the building at the time of the alleged conversation, a police memo states.

"It was a complete fabrication," said Young, who is now a detective. "As a matter of fact, it was completely unfounded. It was like a fairy tale."

Schaefer couldn't be reached for comment on the suit.

On Nov. 15, DeTeso was fired from the department, according to the suit. He earned $76,804 a year when he was terminated, his personnel file showed.

A police memo included with the lawsuit, which was not signed, states that DeTeso violated 14 department policies, rules and procedures, including policies about operating under a chain of command, ignorance of regulations, promptly reporting well-sustained charges, neglect of duty and intentional falsification or misrepresentation of records.

"There is an issue of chain of command," Fishbane said. "He was a battalion chief. He's not a firefighter. With that territory comes duties and responsibilities."

DeTeso and Rothman argue in the lawsuit that DeTeso should not have been investigated for leaving the anonymous letter in the first place.

A Naples Police and Emergency Services Department policy states that members have the right to make complaints in writing, orally, by telephone, or by correspondence, signed or anonymous.

DeTeso and Rothman also argue that all the interrogations of DeTeso violated the Firefighter's Bill of Rights, as did the two notice of violations he received, his pre-disciplinary hearing and, ultimately, his termination.

DeTeso is seeking reinstatement to his position without any lapse in pay or time of service, and is seeking a correction to all city records to omit any reference to a lapse is service or disciplinary action. He is also seeking an injunction preventing the city from using statements obtained during any the interviews with him.

Because DeTeso is not a member, the City of Naples firefighters union is not playing a role in the lawsuit.

"Don hasn't contacted the union for anything, so I can't comment on the details," union President Adam Nadelman said.

Fishbane said he believes the investigation was thorough, professional and that none of DeTeso's rights were violated. The claims in the lawsuit, he said, appear to be baseless.

"I don't believe there is a legal or factual foundation to them," Fishbane said. "I don't take away his right to want to pursue them, but we just look at the issue very, very differently."